Friday, March 31, 2006

More of the WaPo's nonsense can be found in this article A Historian's Faithful Account about Karen Armstrong, who surely ranks alongside Georgetown's John Esposito as an abject Islamic apologist. No surprise, Armstrong has been a featured speaker at Esposito's so-called Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (now officially called the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, although I'd rather call it Weedy's Dawa-ganda Center :-). The article is by Sally Quinn, Ben Bradlee's squeeze at the WaPo.

Armstrong reasserts her claim that Islam is not a violent religion, sweeping aside 9/11, Bali, Madrid, the London Undergrouond bomb blasts, and the most recent spectacle of Cartoon Rage. On the other hand, here is what she says about the religious right in America:

Like most fundamentalists, they have a pernicious, horrible, paranoid view of the 'other' ... It used to be that the Soviet Union was the enemy described in the book of Revelation that would bring about the last days. Now, they've switched to Islam. They had to regroup. But you can't equate true religion with hatred.

Here is what Armstrong says about those who follow the "Left Behind" series:

It's a strange thing in this country that people have this view of the world. If these people went to a psychiatrist, they would be diagnosed with a psychological disorder.

I don't believe in the Rapture (and it's disputed among Christain believers), but that characterization could be better applied to Muslims. Unfortunately, too many people have fallen for Karen Armstrong's dreck, including my own father. He's probably watched too many of her appearances on Bill Moyers's TV shows on PBS.

Those of our readers who follow the blogosphere know that Borders has refused to stock the April-May issue of Free Inquiry magazine. I was among probably the thousands who wrote to complain to Borders. I did get a response, mimicking the line from its spokesperson:

Thank you for your expression of concern about our decision not to carry the issue of Free Inquiry magazine featuring cartoons depicting Muhammad.

Borders is committed to our customers' right to choose what to read and what to buy and to the First Amendment right of Free Inquiry to publish the cartoons. In this particular case, we decided not to stock this issue in our stores because we place a priority on the safety and security of our customers and our employees. We believe that carrying this issue presented a challenge to that priority.

We value your thoughts and sincerely appreciate that you invested your time to tell us how you feel about the issue. I can assure you that our management team gave careful deliberation to this decision and considered all sides of the issue before reaching this conclusion. As always, we are interested in customer feedback about our choices and while we know you do not agree with our position, we hope you can understand the challenge of balancing the needs of our customers, employees and our communities.

We appreciate the time you have taken to bring your concerns to our attention. If you should have any other questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Best,

DanCustomer Resolution Specialist www.BordersStores.com

Borders is clearly concerned about reprisals. That's rather telling, as its headquarters is in Ann Arbor, Michigan, close to Detroit, which has the biggest concentration of Muslims in the US (the DC area might come in as a close second).

Borders Inc., a subsidiary of global book, music and movie retailer Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE:BGP), announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Al Maya Group, a diversified corporation headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, to establish a franchise arrangement under which Al Maya will operate Borders stores in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries ... Terms and conditions of the anticipated agreement will not be disclosed [emphasis mine].

"This is a result of the multiple death threats I have received for my comic book, which depicts the truth about the teachings of the prophet Mohammed. I am earnestly confused about this matter. I have spoken honestly and truthfully about Islam and its teachings. All quotes in the comic book are directly from the Qu'ran and the agreed Hadiths.

"Why does a religion of peace seek to kill me for being honest? What do they have to hide?

"I hope to return when I am free to speak once again.

"Abdullah Aziz (Author or the World Renowned Comic Book, 'Mohammed's Believe It or Else!'"

Three things I've learned from Mohammed's Believe It or Else, according to the author's citations from the Hadith:

1. Once a tribe of Israelites became lost. The Jews were transformed into rats.Proof: rats drink milk from sheep but not from camels.(Burkhari, vol. IV, no 524)

2. The majority of the population of hell is female. Also, nobody is more deficient in intelligence and religion than a woman.(Burkhari, vol. I, no. 28; Burkhari, vol. I, no. 301; Burkahari, vol. I, no. 161)

3. Muslims have one intestine, but those who are not Muslims have seven intestines.(Muslim, Vol. III, nos. 5113, Chapter DCCCLXII)

Does this comic book mock Islam? Before you condemn the author of this book, read the following words by Ali Sina, apostate:

"Why Mock Islam? Because it is therapeutic! Mocking is a very powerful way to convince those who are unwilling to think to do it. Shame is a great motivator....

"Do not underestimate the power of ridicule. This is not a laughing matter. Mock Muhammad and Islam as this will eventually help the Muslims get rid of their cult. They must feel embarrassed for calling themselves Muslim.

"This therapy works. I have seen it work many times....

"Today Muslims become angry if you ridicule their faith, but once they are free from this bondage of the mind they will thank you for it.... "

Mohammed's Believe It or Else is beautifully illustrated and printed on glossy paper. Get your own copy, digital download or hard copy, and feel free to read it while eating a ham sandwich.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

From Little Green Footballs, lgf: Abu Ali Gets 30 Years, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali is sentenced to 30 years for his role in a plot to assassinate President Bush.

Thirty years is too short. When he's eligible to leave prison, he'll be a relatively robust man in his 50s. Also, if the example of Zacharias Moussaoui is any indicator, there is no effort to disabuse them of their jihadist ideology in prison.

"During the Beltway Sniper crisis, back in the fall of 2002, a series of articles in The Washington Times described John Allen Muhammad’s conversion to Islam, and his later break with the Nation of Islam (the articles are no longer available, but extracts have been preserved here). Apparently the NOI was not militant enough for Mr. Muhammad, and he left it to become involved with a group called Jamaat ul-Fuqra (Arabic for 'community of the impoverished'), a terrorist organization founded by a notorious Pakistani cleric, Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani."

From today's Washington Post, here is an excerpt from an article entitled "Muhammad Asks to Defend Himself":

"Sniper John Allen Muhammad has written a letter to a Maryland judge saying he wishes to represent himself during his first-degree murder trial because he has "no confidence or trust" in the two public defenders assigned to the case.

"'I'm very patience, now I have no more patience with Paul and/or Brian,' Muhammad wrote in a three-page letter, referring to Montgomery County public defender Paul DeWolfe and Brian Shefferman, two well-respected lawyers. 'All they have done is "lied" to me over and over Can you help me, I knew that I would need to fight in the court room but I didn't know that I would need to do that out side of the court room.'

"Montgomery Circuit Court Judge James L. Ryan filed Muhammad's handwritten letter as a motion and scheduled a hearing for tomorrow to discuss its merits.

"'We expect to fully address the issues Mr. Muhammad addressed in his letter before Judge Ryan,' DeWolfe said yesterday. He declined to respond in greater detail to the letter.

"Muhammad wrote that he would appreciate 'stand-by' attorneys 'to assistance me in mine defence. Not to defend me in mine defence.'

"Muhammad said he has tried unsuccessfully to get his attorneys to tell the court that he wants to represent himself because 'I don't want what happened in Va. on the first day of the trial.'

"Muhammad, 45, fired and re-retained his attorneys during his Virginia murder trial in the fall of 2003. He was sentenced to death in March 2004 after being convicted of killing one of 10 people slain during the sniper shootings that terrified the Washington area in October 2002.

"He is scheduled to go on trial May 1 on charges that he randomly killed six people in Maryland with a high-powered rifle in the 2002 slayings. Lee Boyd Malvo, 20, who is alleged to be his accomplice and who also has been convicted of murder in Virginia, is scheduled to be tried in October...."

Perhaps Muhammad wants to live after all. Or perhaps he's looking for a forum in which to explain his commitment to Islam. Perhaps Moussaoui's model in court has inspired Muhammad:

"ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth airplane and fly it into the White House as part of the attack that unfolded Sept. 11, 2001.

"Moussaoui's testimony on his own behalf stunned the courtroom....

"Before Moussaoui took the stand, his lawyers made a last attempt to stop him from testifying, but failed. Defense attorney Gerald Zerkin argued that his client would not be a competent witness because he has contempt for the court, only recognizes Islamic law and therefore 'the affirmation he undertakes would be meaningless.'..."

Does a Muslim's taking the oath in a courtroom now mean that his testimony is automatically subject to suspicion? That idea certainly opens a new can of worms!

Friday, March 24, 2006

I have previously posted on the topic of the upcoming symposium, The Underlying Roots of Terrorism, to be held in Arlington, Virginia. Find a detailed explanation here, and read about who is not sponsoring Operation First Responder, a recent initiative:

"America's Truth Forum has received a multitude of inquiries from first responder organizations across the country asking if there is a discounted rate for symposium tickets for their first responder personnel....

"Whether you intend to join us on April 29th, 2006 in Arlington, Virginia for the symposium or not, you can help underwrite the admission of a first responder with your generous donation...."

Go here for additional information. Consider a donation even if you cannot attend the symposium.

As you know, the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a $1.35 million libel suit against me because I made the following statements:

• “Let there be no doubt that CAIR is a terrorist supporting front organization that is partially funded by terrorists, and that CAIR wishes nothing more than the implementation of Sharia law in America.”

• CAIR is an “organization founded by Hamas supporters which seeks to overthrow Constitutional government in the United States and replace it with an Islamist theocracy using our own Constitution as protection.”

• “ACAIR reminds our readers that CAIR was started by Hamas members and is supported by terrorist supporting individuals, groups and countries.”

• “Why oppose CAIR? CAIR has proven links to, and was founded by, Islamic terrorists. CAIR is not in the United States to promote the civil rights of Muslims. CAIR is here to make radical Islam the dominant religion in the United States and convert our country into an Islamic theocracy along the lines of Iran. In addition, CAIR has managed, through the adroit manipulation of the popular media, to present itself as the ‘moderate' face of Islam in the United States. CAIR succeeded to the point that the majority of its members are not aware that CAIR actively supports terrorists and terrorist supporting groups and nations. In addition, CAIR receives direct funding from Islamic terrorists supporting countries.”

• “CAIR is a fundamentalist organization dedicated to the overthrow of the United States Constitution and the installation of an Islamic theocracy in America.”...

The parties in CAIR's lawsuit have settled. And check this out:

"The policies and procedures of Anti-CAIR (ACAIR) have not changed in any way as a result of the CAIR lawsuit settlement. ACAIR, and ACAIR’s founder, Andrew Whitehead, will continue to work to expose and present to interested parties any information regarding CAIR that they feel is of importance."

Construction has begun on a 20-acre campus near Annapolis that will house an Islamic high school, a television station, athletic facilities and eventually a college, according to project directors.

Mohammad Arafa, executive director of the Islamic Society of Annapolis, said the Mekkah Learning Center will be the first Islamic high school in the region. Work will progress on the $8 million project only as fast as donations permit; religious law forbids the society to take out a loan with interest.

The school will complement two established Islamic schools in the region, Al-Huda School in College Park and Al-Rahmah School in Baltimore, each serving a few hundred students up to the middle-school grades. Arafa said he has the support of 22 Muslim leaders across Maryland.

He envisions the campus as a means "to help our children to be Americans and Muslims without having to compromise their identity" and as a place where Muslims and non-Muslims can gather to bridge their differences.

He hopes there will not be a fight. Islamic schools and mosques have engendered fear and suspicion across the Washington region, both before and since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, whose creators purported to be acting in Allah's name.

Perhaps the most explosive case, which preceded the 2001 attacks, was a proposed $80 million complex for the Islamic Saudi Academy in Ashburn. Partly financed by the government of Saudi Arabia, the project thoroughly divided the community in 1998. Some residents said the school, given its backing, might pose a security risk.

Protest later subsided, but in 2004, academy officials decided not to pursue the project, according to Dave Kovalik, school spokesman. The academy serves 1,000 students in preschool through grade 12 at campuses in Burke and Alexandria. It is the only accredited Islamic high school program in the Washington-Baltimore region, Kovalik said. Some students travel from as far as Waldorf.

Arafa said the idea for the Mekkah school took root in the 2001 attacks and the resulting need for Muslims in Maryland to express the peaceful nature of their faith. A release for the new school states that "it is imperative that area Muslims get the message out as to the true peaceful nature of Islam."

He recalls fielding 106 telephone calls after Sept. 11; 104 were supportive, and two were not.

But when he learned last year that the Islamic Society's lease in a strip mall on Forest Drive would not be renewed because of parking concerns, Arafa found the search for a new home to be an exercise in rejection. Arafa said at least eight prospective landlords turned him away after learning the identity of the tenant. Mosques and Islamic schools nationwide have been victims of anti-Muslim vandalism and other hate crimes, as well as allegations that their facilities are harboring terrorists.

"They turn around, as soon as they find out who it is, and say, 'Sorry, we don't want you,' " said Martha Scott, a spokeswoman for the society, which offers prayer services for a congregation of about 250 families.

The nascent school garnered its first publicity early this month, in a write-up in the Annapolis newspaper. Afterward, neither the county nor the society received any complaints, officials said, an encouraging sign. Scott said the news coverage even improved the group's reception as a prospective tenant, with some landlords indicating that they wanted to reconsider the society's application. The society will maintain its headquarters at a separate location.

When Arafa first saw the Millersville property and learned that the asking price for the prospective campus was $550,000, he told the real estate agent that the society could never afford it: "First of all, we don't deal with interest. Second of all, we are broke. Third of all, we don't have assets."

Much to his surprise, the seller agreed to an interest-free installment plan. About two-thirds of the purchase price has been paid, he said.

Arafa cannot predict when classes will begin on the site, southwest of where Crain Highway meets Interstate 97. The next wave of fundraising will pay for grading work and a septic system. School organizers hope they can offer classes in fall.

The first building will house a prayer hall, assembly rooms and space for two ninth-grade classes, one for boys and one for girls. Arafa hopes to add one grade each year, eventually serving 250 to 300 students. Plans call for 171,000 square feet of building space.

If all goes as planned, he said, the school will be a place "where you can give me the child at 3 years old and he can finish with a PhD."

Shama Farooq, civil rights director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for Maryland and Virginia, said Arafa is probably correct in predicting that the school will draw students from the broader Baltimore-Washington region.

"Obviously, people are sending their children to Islamic middle schools, and they're trying to find Islamic high schools as well," she said. "I know of people who drive their children 30, 40 miles to private schools."

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

"The courtroom was silent, the jurors somber, as a prosecutor yesterday relived a great national tragedy. Yet in a corner of the room, one man smiled.

"The final moments of American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, were on display in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Raskin said flight attendants reported the emergency as attackers took over the cabin. He recalled the chilling tones of lead hijacker Mohamed Atta in a message inadvertently broadcast to air traffic control: 'We have some planes.'

"The moment Raskin described the plane hitting the tower, Zacarias Moussaoui nodded, a smile creasing his lips. As he left the courtroom, where jurors will determine whether he lives or dies for his role in the attacks of that day, he pumped his fist and shouted, 'God curse America!'...

"Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaeda in the Sept. 11 plot. He said bin Laden had instructed him to fly an airplane into the White House....

"A few rows away sat Moussaoui's mother, Aicha el-Wafi, who said she hardly recognized her son and called him 'too fat and too lethargic.' El-Wafi, who flew in from France for the trial's first few days, said Moussaoui is 'mad at me' because she has spoken to his attorneys, with whom her son does not speak. She added that 'the United States needs a guilty man. They made a scapegoat of him, but on his own agreement.'"...

In television interviews, some courtroom observers stressed that Moussaoui is not crazy. Rather, he is totally committed to Al-Qaeda. In one interview, an observer stressed that Moussaoui's death at the hands of infidels would bring him the shame he deserves and would not elevate him to the status of martyr.

Friday, March 03, 2006

"FALLS CHURCH, Virginia (CNN) -- Athletic footwear company Nike and an Islamic organization broke ground on a playground on Saturday and announced that a controversy over a shoe logo is over.

"Nike and the Council on American-Islamic Relations completed an agreement last week, officially resolving a problem that began in April 1997 when CAIR objected to a shoe with a design on the heel similar to the Arabic word for 'God' or 'Allah.'

"As part of the final agreement, Nike is building three playgrounds for Islamic communities in the United States, said Roy Agostino, communications manager for Nike. CAIR will decide where the playgrounds will be, Agostino said.

"The first playground will be at Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, Falls Church, Virginia, where representatives from Nike and CAIR held a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday. Children from the center's school drew pictures of what they would like in their new playground. Nike distributed balloons and T-shirts.

"In June last year, Nike apologized to Muslims for any unintentional offense, agreed to recall all products carrying the design, introduced training for Nike designers in Islamic imagery and agreed to investigate how the design came about.

"After the recall, other issues remained, such as the shoes' appearance in some markets outside the United States.

""I think this agreement we signed with Nike a few days ago puts this whole issue to an end. And we hope that Nike will be now aware of the sensitive market that they have and the global issue that pertains with the shoes,' said Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR."